This chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream is a silky glossy icing I make from whipped egg whites, softened butter, and real melted dark chocolate. It takes me 25 minutes of active work, and I use it on layer cakes, cupcakes, and filled cookies.
I have to confess, I had not made this one since culinary school. That was over 25 years ago now, and making it again reminded me exactly why it stuck with me. It wins over the people at my table who swear they do not like frosting, because it is not the tooth-aching wall of powdered sugar most icings are. My daughter and I destroyed a whole batch of cupcakes testing it, standing at the counter with a bowl and two spoons, and that told me everything. If you want the plain version first, my homemade buttercream is the place to start. This is a natural next step once you have piped a funfetti cake or a homemade carrot cake. What I love about my version is the melted chocolate, because chopped dark chocolate infuses a far richer, truer chocolate flavor than cocoa powder ever will.
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Swiss meringue buttercream is an icing made by warming egg whites and sugar together over simmering water until the sugar dissolves. Then whipping that mixture into a stiff, glossy meringue. It’s finished by beating in softened butter until it becomes a smooth, spreadable frosting. The chocolate version is the same base with melted, cooled dark chocolate whipped in at the very end. It is prized for being silkier and far less sweet than an American powdered-sugar buttercream, which is why pastry kitchens use it on layer cakes and piped work.
What throws most folks is that this looks like a lot of steps on paper and comes down to a handful of easy ones at the stove. Warm the whites and sugar over a water bath until you cannot feel a single grain. Whip that up into a shiny meringue and let it cool while the mixer does the work. Then, feed in the butter a couple of tablespoons at a time and finish with vanilla and the cooled chocolate.
If you enjoy learning new cooking techniques and trying new recipes overall, you’ll realize that none of these steps are hard on their own. They just ask you to slow down instead of rushing and just follow my recipe steps to the T. Do that, and the first time you drag a spatula through it and see that gloss, you will get why I never went back to the powdered-sugar stuff. All right, let’s cook!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Five things go into this chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream recipe. Each one has a job worth knowing before you start. Here is what I use:
- Egg whites whipped with the sugar. They are the entire structure of the icing, the airy meringue that everything else folds into. Chilled or room temperature both work, and being a touch over on the whites is no problem at all.
- Granulated sugar is dissolved into the whites over the water bath. It sweetens the buttercream and stabilizes the meringue as it whips. If you like a sweeter icing, you can add a little more (¼ cup).
- Unsalted butter – Unsalted butter is what I use, and it is vital that it be at room temperature.
- Basic vanilla extract is all that’s needed and adds some nice flavors to the icing. You could go a step further and scrape the vanilla beans from 1/2 pod.
- Chocolate – I personally like using 65 to 70% cacao bittersweet chocolate. To me, semi-sweet or milk chocolate just makes this icing way too sweet, and I do not like it. You can substitute this out with 1/3 to 1/2 cup of cocoa powder. However, I personally don’t feel it gives that rich chocolaty flavor that the bars will give you.
How to Make Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Set up the water bath: Add an inch or two of water to a medium saucepot. Heat it over low to medium until it just starts to simmer.
Warm the whites and sugar: Whisk the egg whites and sugar together in a large heatproof bowl. Then, set the bowl over the simmering water so it covers the pot completely, and do not lift it off until this step is done. Whisk constantly until the sugar is fully dissolved and the mixture reaches 165 F.
Whip the meringue: Transfer the mixture to a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Run it on medium for 3 to 4 minutes. Then take it up to medium-high and whip for 10 to 12 minutes.
Note: It will get shiny, form stiff peaks, and cool down to room temperature as it spins, which is the part that matters most. If the peaks fold over a little, that is totally fine, and it will still work.
Beat in the butter: Drop the speed to medium. Add the softened butter 2 tablespoons at a time. Wait until each addition is fully mixed in before adding the next.
Add the vanilla: Mix in the vanilla. Stop and scrape down the bowl, then crank the speed to high for about 10 seconds to bring everything together.
Finish with the chocolate: Add the cooled melted chocolate. Mix on medium until it is fully whipped in, stopping to scrape the bowl as needed.
Use it: Once it is silky and glossy, it is ready to spatula onto or pipe on layer cakes, cupcakes, or filled cookies.
Chef Tip + Notes
If you are new to an icing like this, the best thing I can tell you is to treat the temperature of the meringue as the whole game and let it whip all the way down before the butter ever goes in. That meringue can take a full 20 minutes to hit the peaks you are after, and the bowl of the stand mixer should come down from 165 F to right about room temperature by the time you are done. Add butter into a meringue that is still warm and it melts on contact, and you end up with soup instead of buttercream. Touch the outside of the bowl, and if it is anything warmer than your hand, keep whipping.
- Stop and scrape often: Scrape the bowl down several times across the whole process so nothing sits unmixed at the bottom and the icing stays uniform.
- Keep the butter cool room temp: Soft enough to dent with a finger, but never greasy or melty, so it beats in seamlessly instead of thinning the icing.
- Cool the chocolate to 85 F: Melt it, then let it come down to about 85 F before it goes in, pourable but not hot enough to melt the butter back to liquid.
- Use a dark bar: Bittersweet chocolate in the 65 to 70 % range keeps it from getting cloying; save the semisweet and milk chocolate for something else.
Serving Suggestions
Where this icing earns its keep is between cake layers or piped onto cupcakes. It’s thick enough to hold a swirl and rich enough that nobody scrapes it off to the side of the plate. I have sandwiched it between chocolate chip cookies for little filled cookie sandwiches that vanish off the counter. For a birthday, I love using it on a stacked layer cake, like my funfetti cake, with a spatula and a turntable. For a smaller weeknight sweet, a swirl on a few cupcakes is all the occasion I need.
When I want the whole plate to go all chocolate, I will set a slice of frosted cake next to a couple of warm brownies. When I want to steer the other way, I serve it after a lighter dessert like tres leches cake so the meal does not go all-in on richness.
A spoonful of chocolate mousse next to a frosted cupcake is the version I make when the whole point is chocolate. Any icing that survives keeps beautifully in the fridge, so I make it ahead more often than not.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: I make this buttercream up to 3 days ahead for freshness, keeping it covered until I am ready to frost.
How to Store: I cover it and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
How to Freeze: I freeze it covered for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator for a full day before using, and if it comes out thick, re-whip it in a stand mixer for about 2 minutes on medium speed to bring it back to a spreadable icing.
More Dessert Recipes
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients
- 6 ounces egg whites, about 5 large eggs
- 12 ounces granulated sugar, 1 ½ cups
- 1 pound softened unsalted butter, cut into 2 tablespoon chunks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled to 85° F
Instructions
- Add 1 to 2 inches of water to a medium-sized saucepot and heat it over low to medium heat until it just starts to simmer.
- Next, add the egg whites and sugar to a large bowl and whisk to combine. Place that bowl over the simmering pot of water. Ensure the bowl completely covers to the pot and do not remove it from the pot until it’s done.
- Whisk the mixture constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved and it reaches 165°F.
- Transfer the mixture to a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and mix on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes. Then turn the speed up to medium-high-high and whisk for 10 to 12 minutes.
- The meringue will be shiny and will form stiff peaks at this point. It will also have come down to room temperature during this whisking time. If the peaks fold over a bit, it is totally fine.
- Turn the speed down to medium and add in 2 tablespoons of the softened unsalted butter at a time. Do not mix the next 2 tablespoons in until the previous 2 tablespoons are completely mixed in.
- Once the butter is mixed in. add in the vanilla, stop and scrape, and then crank the speed up to high for just 10 seconds to mix everything in.
- Lastly, add the cooled chocolate to the mixer and mix on medium speed until it is completely whisked in. Feel free to stop and scrape during this process.
- Once it is done it is ready to use on desserts like layer cakes, cupcakes, or filled cookies.
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream